Hooves of Glass, the Hawk Arises
by AyumiFallassion
Summary: Meat and oils are abhorrent to the palate. The Kirin is a beast that values purity above all else. The horn is the focal point of the holy beast' powers. All the Sages and Kirin know this, and they know that a Kirin who falls into Hourai rarely lives past his thirtieth year. Houki is not on Houzan, and Taiki has been away for too long. My take on Taiki's Return.
1. Hooves of Glass, the Hawk Arises 1

My own idea as to what might happen to bring Taiki and Gyousou back to their country. This is a mix of both the anime and the original books. I know I can't hold a candle to the craftsmanship of the original stories, but I hope to be able to contribute in some small way.

Here's to hoping they eventually translate the last three stories in this wonderful series.

_Italics_ will indicate sirei or Kirin in their beast form.

* * *

Hooves of Glass, A Hawk Arises

"Hey. Sorry I haven't had a chance in order to visit for a while. School has been picking up, and painting has been taking a lot of my time.

"I, had another person die around me. A teacher this time. He encouraged me to paint more from life and less from my imagination." A slight laugh, as if the young man found this ironic. "Then he slapped me. It wasn't even that hard, it more startled me than it hurt, but 'they' didn't like it. I wish, I knew how to tell 'them' to stop."

A pause, then a small smile. "I have a girl following me around. Wonder what the others would have said about her. Wonder what you would have said about her. Your little buddy growing up maybe? I'm going to have to drive her away soon though. Before 'they' see her as a threat... I really don't want to though. She said she she'd been spirited away like I had. She's, a link to what I have trouble remembering. I still have trouble remembering why I fell back home. Whenever I try, my forehead throbs."

Dark gray eyes fluttered closed, turning away from the comatose man. The steady beeps of the heart monitor in the background was a reassuring sound, a promise of possible life. He patted the thin hand, his own skin so dark now against the pale skin of the albino. He remembered when he first learned that the man was here, how dark his skin had been despite his lack of true pigmentation; he'd found him a few weeks after being refound by his family, having wandered away while his mother was talking to the doctor. The doctors had figured that the only way for the man to had actually tanned was if he'd spent most of his life outside. The young man brushed pale hair away from those closed eyes as he stood up. "I'll try to visit again soon. I hope you'll start to wake up soon. Maybe you can tell me what happened to us. Or why I remember you even though I don't know how we met."

The young man turned to leave, only to pause, had on the door frame as a final thought came to him. "That girl. She knew part of the name you gave me. She called me Kouri."

~~~...~~~...~~~

"You know I can't take you back to Wa!"

"I won't allow it! You're needed here!"

Youko scowled, arms folded over her chest as she stared down the pair of Kirin. Over to the side, Naotaka was snickering as he watched, hand under his chin as he enjoyed the show. The En pair had come for a visit, to help celebrate the Kei-ou's victory over the uprising that had started in Wa province. That was when she had mentioned Japan again.

"I'm not asking to be taken back, I'm asking to help!" she barked, staring down the pair of mythical beings.

Enki rolled his eyes, hands waving as he argued, a half-eaten peach forgotten in one fist. "An' I said you can't! You know as well as the rest of us that Keiki and I can travel easily enough, but dragging along a ruler takes too much power to control a Shoku. It takes too much strength and causes too much damage on both sides."

"There are others way to help look than on foot." Youko pulled up the Suiguuto from where it had been resting against her seat. "I can always look for him with this. And if I see him, I might be able to get you a general idea where he is, or even an address if we're lucky."

"But that will not work." Everyone turned to look at Keiki, stoic as always as he pointed at the national treasure. "You cannot find him, because you have never seen him. You will not be able to find him by name alone."

Youko scowled. "Doesn't mean I cannot help some other way. Enki," she turned to the smaller Kirin. "Did you try using a computer last time?"

All three were beyond confused. "A com-pyu-ter?" Enki asked, head cocked to the side. He didn't notice the En-ou unconsciously copying him.

And in this, the Suiguuto was useful. A drop of tea to activate the sword and help focus the visions, and the form of a desktop computer appeared on the blade. "A computer is a way to hold large amounts of data, and if connected to the internet, can be used to find data. If you find a public library," and the vision flickered to the one near her old home she used to go to, "you will be allowed to use them without a fine."

Enki's eyes were large as he bent over the sword, mesmerized by the images. "And this, com-pyuter, will know how to find Taiki?"

"It might help, as long as you know his original name. You mentioned Takasato before I think it was? A first name or his age would help narrow the search."

"Well, he was about eleven when he went missing again, and that was six years ago."

Youko nodded, letting go of her hold on the visions. "Then he might be a junior or senior in high school, that's basically a Middle Learning for us." She paused, trying to remember information she hadn't had to think about for a few years. "I think I can remember a few websites you can try to use to look for him."

"That would be amazing! I wonder if we could figure out how to use these compyuters here in the Twelve Kingdoms," Enki muttered.

"I don't think you can. Not until you learn how to harness electricity."

"Electricity?"

Youko chuckled at the older king. Enki made it a habit to bounce back and forth from the Twelve Kingdoms and Hourai, so he had more of an idea as to what she was talking about compared to the Feudal Age Shoryu. "That's a discussion for another time."

Rokuta grimaced after a minute. "I wish I could stay in Hourai for more than a few days. I might have better luck if I did!" he groaned, perpetually annoyed at his own lack of power.

A blink from the more stoic Kirin. "Did you not meet with young Sugimoto?"

"Course I did, I ran into her a few times."

"She was sent back to Japan, could you not contact her and ask for aid from a native?"

A collective blink. "That, sounds perfectly reasonable," Shoryu offered. "And we have her address from when she registered at our office. Couldn't be that hard to meet up with her again."

Enki nodded after thinking about this for a second. "I'll try again next week then."

Youko smiled. "Come back before you go, I'll see if I can give you any more information that can help."

~~~...~~~...~~~

Yuka was panting as she tried to calm her heart rate. The specter, the one she was sure was following Kaname, was back again. It had gotten so close to her this time, and she had felt the long fingers starting to curl around her throat before she mentioned that she knew Keiki and the Keo-ou. It was a few weeks after the death of an art teacher, and even though Kaname had told her to please stop following him, she was still allowing herself to run into him. The young man was so strange, he drew her to him. It was, an aura around him that drew her to him, and not the fact that he was also 'spirited away' like her. Yes, that was what first caught her attention, but it wasn't her main reason anymore.

_ "Leave ussssss..."_

Yuka stiffened. This was a new voice. "I mean no harm," she whispered, eyes picking up the writhing shadows on the wall. The last one had been strange, almost chimeric. This one however, was more lupine, strangely enough.

_"My charge, he is under our protection..."_

"I mean no harm to him."

_"Why...? Why are you bothering him?"_

"I want to, to be friends with him. He's a link back to the Kingdoms," she offered, slowly straightening back up. This must have been the right thing to say, because while the presence didn't retreat, it did fade to something a little more bearable.

_"We trust no one with him. Leave us."_

"Please, I mean no harm. I mean only to be a friend and ally."

_"And what...gives you the right?"_

Yuka was afraid again now, the shadow was growling at her. She was surprised at what came out of her mouth next. "Don't you want to go home?" The growl stopped, cut off short as if in surprise at her own gall. "I am friends with the ruler and Taiho of Kei. And through them, the Kirin of En as well. Please, if they ever find me again, don't you want to be able to go home?"

_"...this world is killing us."_

"What?" But there was nothing more as the canine-like presence vanished. Yuka was worried as she straightened, what if the creature came back? She swayed on her feet for a few minutes in fear, before racing to the train station.

'But what did it mean, this world is killing them?' she thought a few minutes later, swaying with the train that was taking her home. 'Is the atmosphere too polluted? I remember the Twelve Kingdoms was so much cleaner than Japan.' Something about that didn't feel right though, it felt too simple a reason.

She sighed. Maybe she should leave him alone for a while, see if he would calm down about her.

Even so, as she was doing homework that night, her eyes kept flicking to the shadows, all of her lights on to try and banish the fingers of darkness.


	2. Hooves of Glass, the Hawk Arises 2

_Italics_ will indicate sirei or Kirin in their beast form.

7/27/12: Slight change, as have found Gouran's real name.

* * *

Hooves of Glass, The Hawk Arises

Youko sighed as she read over a report from one of the harbors that was supposed to bring in trade from the other countries. Sadly, the only other countries outside of En that traded with her across the Kyokai (Everyone else used the inner seas) were Ryuu, Kou, and what little Tai still had to offer, which was mostly refugees. As such, En and Ryuu were the only ones that had ships come in consistently, and Kou and Tai ships only brought refugees and the smallest amount of trade goods. Sadly, the last ship due in was days late, and driftwood had started washing ashore. And the amount was a sign that the Tai ship had likely been destroyed.

"Oi, Youko!"

She looked up, refusing to flinch from surprise at Enki hanging upside-down from outside her window. "Are you a Kirin or a monkey Enki?" she asked, pushing the window open so he swing in.

The small bastion of purity snorted at her, ignoring the question as he perched on her desk. "You said to come by before heading out. So, you have anything for me?" he asked, thrusting his hand out to the young queen.

She nodded, pulling open a drawer in her desk. "If you could give these to Sugimoto-san if you see her?" she asked, passing over a few scrolls. "The small one is for you though. It's a pair of websites to try. They'll be pretty simple, but if you get confused, there'll be librarians who'll help you out."

Enki nodded as he opened the small one, not much more than a scrap of curled up paper. It only needed to be big enough for the websites in question, so the young queen had used a piece from her own notes. He paused, looking over the scrap as he slipped the larger scroll into his hoh. "Hey Youko, have you been having any issues with Youma lately?" he asked absently.

"No more than the usual ones coming in off the Kyokai from Tai and Kou. Why, have you two been having issues?" Her head went up after a second, thinking about what she'd just said. No chance that Shoryu could be slipping is there? Enki looked perfectly healthy, eyeballing her fruit meant for her own enjoyment...

Enki shrugged, snatching an apple off of the little bowl from her desk. "Well, we know Ryuu is tilting from what Rakushun and Shoukei have told us, so we've been getting more Youma from them. At this point, you're the only neighboring country without problems."

The young woman nodded, humming in agreement. "We believe a trade ship from Tai was just destroyed. And Kou just gets worse every month. But nothing within Kei itself."

"A Tai ship?" the Kirin asked, bright gold eyebrows raising.

"Yes, so if you're going out into that area to summon the shoku, could you please watch out for any survivors?"

"Course, but I hate to say it, but most likely the Youma already finished off any survivors. I'll keep an eye out though."

~~~...~~~...~~~

The salt of the Sea of Emptiness was bitter as it flooded over her lips. The not-so young woman cursed as she kicked out, good arm aiding her legs, wounded right arm carefully tied to the bundle of driftwood that kept her afloat. Smoky blue eyes were clouded with pain as the general struggled for land.

Risai was a Sennin. Cold wouldn't kill her. The lack of food and fresh water wouldn't kill her. The wound festering in her sword arm would take forever to heal, but it wouldn't kill her. Mostly she was worried about the Youma from the deep. She COULD die if she was eaten, and having lost her sword, she had no way to protect herself.

She prayed to the heavens with every kick. 'I won't stop until I reach land. I won't stop until my king and Taiho have been returned to their throne. I won't stop until the usurper has been thrown down.' It was the prayer of a desperate woman, given strength by repetition after repetition, repeated with every kick, every stroke, every inch crawled forward towards land.

Be it Tentei or Kenryou, whom was the god over the Yellow Sea, and those on pilgrimages, (and the search fro her missing rulers could be nothing but a pilgrimage), she will never know, but at the 9999th kick, a storm began to pick up. She perked up as best as she could on the driftwood, all that was left after Youma had destroyed her ship, and she was nowhere near Tai, Ryuu or En. A storm would help push her towards land, and all she would have to do is hold on.

But something was wrong with this storm. The clouds were gathering over the darkening sky, but they were staying white and fluffy, not the dark angry looking ones seen with a storm. The wind was picking up, pushing her back the way she had come, and she groaned as she ducked her head down. The waves were picking up, threatening to swamp her as she clung to the driftwood.

A wave finally did wash over her, dunking her under, and she was sent spinning until she bobbed back up to the surface, facing a new direction and bobbing up and down like a cork. Only for her eyes to widen in horror at the sight before her.

It was a little known fact that while Shoku could show up anywhere, they were always more prominent around fallen countries. Tai had fallen, and while Ryuu was limping up, it was tilting. Shoku had become very common outside of Tai with the pretender on the Peace-Throne. And her prayers had just been answered with a rather large one.

"No!" The woman abandoned the driftwood now to thrash frantically, panic overcoming the pain as she tried to outdistance the storm. She didn't want to fall into the Shoku, she had no idea where it might send her!

But the currents were relentless, battering her every which way, and too her horror she was inching backwards towards the hole between the worlds. "No no! Please no!" she screamed, her limbs burning from fatigue and infection as she thrashed. "Tai-oh! Taiki! Return to your kingdom!" she cried out one last time before falling over the edge of the world, convinced that this was the last time she would see this moon.

~~~...~~~...~~~

The rain was gently falling on her face as she slowly came to. That was the first thing she noticed. The second was that the world was slowly rocking under her, a familiar motion, and for a minute, she thought she had only fallen asleep on the ship to Kei. But the sounds of the people around her was a clue otherwise, the hint that it had not been just a horrible nightmare.

Her status as a sage was translating everything. Being in Wa would not change this.

The kaikyaku were talking lowly about her, their voices coming in and out of focus as she struggled to awaken. "...fished...out of the drink. Wonder...from a reenactment?"

"Don't know...nearby."

Risai felt hands lifting her now, and her head rolled back limply as she was carried somewhere, the people obviously trying to be gentle. After a few minutes, she was placed down on something soft, and a cool hand was placed on her forehead. The infection in her arm was spreading to the rest of her body, but she knew that she could heal from this if she had enough time and a chance to clean out the wound.

But that cool hand moved to the arm in question, and the pain jolted her into a more lucid state, even if she still lacked the strength to open her eyes. (She wasn't sure if she could anyway, they felt swollen shut.) "...can't wait to ...mainland. We...amputate now."

'No, don't! Don't take my sword arm, I'll heal!' raced through her head, but all that came out of her mouth was a croaking whimper, prompting the ship doctor to press something sharp against the crook of her bad arm, the burning leaving a numb path in its wake. Still she struggled even as she felt the leaden numbness spread and people holding her down. The last thing she saw through a crack of an open eyelid was something bright in the hands of one of the men, before the darkness mercifully swallowed her.

~~~...~~~...~~~

_"Hide me, hide me!"_

_"It seems - - - favors Yo - - as well."_

_The scent of jasmine, light clothes draping over his small form, the excitement of the game. Would she find me this time? Muffled voices trying to redirect the seeker, but the clothes lightened as they were pulled away, revealing-_

Kaname jolted awake, tears forming in his eyes even as he reached for the notebook that was always on his nightstand as he slept. The dreams were coming faster now, and they felt so important, like they were part of the lost year of memories.

He flipped through the pages as he finish transcribing the dream, silently marveling at how full the book was getting now. Many of the dreams were so innocent, a happy child without a care in the world. Others featured blood-red eyes framed by white hair that bring a sense of fearful awe. The ones that he dreaded the most were the vaguest ones. A sense of betrayal, of the overwhelming need to flee, then pain, a sense of power flooding out of him, then darkness.

He sighed, reaching inward, mentally tapping around. When he'd started having these dreams, he'd suddenly become aware of a pair of ropes – and how else could he describe them?- glowing around his heart. They had been blank at first, but the longer he'd been aware of them the more he'd become aware of names. Of Fish Child and Overflowing, and that somehow it was important that these weren't the whole names, that he needed to find everything, before it was too late.

"Kaname-kun! Time for breakfast!" The young man sighed again, pulling himself out of bed, but not before slipping the notebook under the mattress. He'd mentioned the dreams to his mother once when they had first started. He did not desire to see her reaction if she saw everything he had written since.

Downstairs a few minutes later, his younger brother looked at him, eyes narrowing in a glare for half a second before turning back to his plate. It was a traditional Japanese breakfast on the table; his mother must have been up for at least an hour in order to make it. His stomach roiled in protest at the sight of the fluffy eggs, and he tried to stick to the rice and fruit in deference to his stomach.

"Kaname, eat your eggs, they're good for you," his father ordered from across the table, helping himself to his own portion. The young man was stoic as he tried to take the smallest piece he could, but his stomach rolled again at the feeling of egg against his tongue. He so desperately wanted to spit it out, but under his father's watchful eye, he slowly swallowed, trying to convince himself that it was only his imagination, and that he couldn't feel something slowly dying every time he ate the flesh from an animal.

'Only one more week,' he thought a few minutes later, walking briskly for the art wing of his old high school. 'Only one more week, and I will be heading to college. I will be able to change my diet, I won't have to hide my dreams, and I can visit the man in the hospital as often as I like.' At that thought, his head turned in the direction of Tokyo General, instinctively knowing were the man was at all times. He could have sworn the man had twitched last time he'd visited, but couldn't be sure if he really had, or if it was just his loneliness making him see things in someone he could swear was important.

'It couldn't hurt to duck in quickly to see him,' he thought after a minute, ducking down a side alley to head to the hospital.

'If he really is waking up, the doctors will know. If not, they should know that he might be anyway,' he reasoned, eyes wandering as he trotted down a well known path, taking in the sights of the Tokyo Harbor. A small fishing boat was pulling in, gulls were calling each other in the pure blue sky, and at his feet, he could have sworn he felt the rough fur of a dog rubbing against his leg.


	3. Hooves of Glass, the Hawk Arises 3

_Italics_ will indicate sirei or Kirin in their beast form.

Taro/Hana are forms of Jane/John Doe. Jamais Vu is forgetting something even though you know you've just been there.

* * *

Hooves of Glass, The Hawk Arises

Yuka blinked at the strange sight before her as she entered the library, cram school work in her arms. This was a small library, and she preferred it that way because it was quieter, more homey than the larger one next to the school she attended. It was fully stocked with desks and computers for anyone whom might need it though, and at one of those computers was a familiar person. The young man was gawking at his screen, face almost as pale as the scarf around his hair, and she grinned to herself as she came up behind him.

"What is a bukkit? And why does this thing want it?" she could hear him muttering as he clicked through an American website, holding the mouse gingerly in his hand.

"Need some help?" The kirin turned abruptly, only to grin at the familiar sight of Yuka as she leaned against his chair. "I don't thing you wanted to look at the Icanhazcheezburger site."

"Nice to see you again too," Enki offered, leaning back in his seat.

Yuka nodded as she pulled up a chair of her own, her books taking a rest on the desk in front of her. "What were you looking for? I know you didn't have computers back in En."

Enki sighed as he poked at the mouse, the computer screen scrolling to show a pathetic cat on his hind paws, the caption in English. Yuka thought it was misspelled, because the only word she could recognize was cookie. "I'm looking for someone. A Kirin who was sent back here years ago. Youko said I could use this, computer to try and find him, but well," he jerked a thumb at the screen, where a cat face was peering down from the ceiling. "You can see what happened."

Yuka held back a giggle at the look on the young man's face. "What were you trying to use?" she asked. The young Kirin passed her a scrap of rice paper, and even after over a year, she still recognized Yoko's handwriting. "Well, this is why you got the wrong site. You misspelled the first site. Why are you trying to access the student websites? Do you think your Kirin is in the school system?"

"He was eleven when he returned here, and that was about six years ago, so Yoko said he'd probably be a senior at a high school? She said it was like a Middle Learning for Hourai."

Yuka nodded as she leaned over the Kirin, typing away. "Form what I was told, then yes. And no. Middle Learnings are for those who wish to go on to Governmental positions, and Upper Learnings are for higher positions, correct?"

"Yeah, pretty much. Middle Learnings are usually city and provincial officials, while Upper Learnings can go and work for the King and his own officials, if not as an official of the kingdom itself. Lower Learnings are for basic schooling, reading and writing and the basic laws of the land."

The young woman nodded as she typed away, the site for the Tokyo school applicants loading slowly. The internet for this library had always been slow, but this just gave her more time to talk. "High school is part of what we call the grade schools, which includes elementary, middle, and high school. You can call the latter one a Middle Learning cause for us, it becomes optional after middle school, though we're still encouraged to attend. High Schools are general knowledge in everything we consider the basics. Math, reading and writing, the sciences, different languages, all sorts of subjects. It's in college that we get specialized training in the fields we want to attend, so you can call it an Upper Learning." She grinned as she located the part of the site that held the search bar. "I'm entering college soon myself. So, who are you looking for?"

Enki blinked as he stared at the screen. "Ummm, I never got his first name, but I'm pretty sure his family name was Takasato. And if I remember correctly, the kanji for his first name meant Core, or something along those lines."

Yuka paused, tilting her head. "Huh, that's weird. I know of a Takasato who's seventeen."

"You do?"

She nodded. "Is it Takasato for Tall Village, or Hawk's District?"

"Village. Is it a common family name?"

"Common enough, but it's weird. The Takasato I know was spirited away years ago, only to return a little more than a year later." Enki's eyes were piercing as he turned to look at her. "And there are these strange things that keep happening around him."

Enki frowned, thumbnail clenched between his teeth as he thought. "That sounds a lot like what happened to Taiki. What's his address?"

The young woman pointed at the top entry on the screen. "This one right here. Wanna go look?"

The young Kirin nodded, swinging to his feet as the young woman shut down the desktop. "Sounds good to me. I'm sensing something, I just can't tell where or who is it."

"Who?"

Enki frowned as the pair left, following the girl as she swung down towards the address in question. "Taiki isn't the only Kirin missing right now. Houki is too. He'd be about five right now, and if he's lucky, he's in Hourai."

"Why would Hourai be lucky?"

"Because the only other place he might be at is Chigoku! I've been to China a few times, it's huge! No," he huffed as he marched after her, hands behind his head. 'It would be better for everyone if Houki and Taiki were here somewhere."

~~~...~~~...~~~

"So, you think you've seen signs of life from Taro-san here?" The nurse smiled at the young man as he nodded, but part of her wanted to back away. Something about his aura, if she was asked she would never be able to explain it, but something about him made her uneasy. She wasn't to know that this was a normal sensation around this boy, she only wished to get away from him. She sketched a short bow, fast enough to almost be considered rude, and backed away, promising to infirm the attending doctor.

Kaname did not care about the rudeness of the nurse, his attention was all on the subtle twitches of the man's hand, twitches that were growing stronger every time he visited. He smiled, soft and small as he held a diminished hand, thumb slowly running over the thin bones that made up the formerly strong appendage. "It's only been a week, but I keep hoping that you'll be awake this time," he started, head down as he poured out his soul to the only person he felt a connection to anymore. "I had another dream. I think I was playing high and seek with someone. I remember seeing at least a dozen of those same women again, the ones in the blue robes. And, a pale face, and long pale hair." He shook his head. "I keep thinking that I should know her name, that I NEED to remember her name. Hell, I don't even know for sure it's a woman."

He sighed, looking up at the sleeping face. It wasn't as peaceful as last week, there was a faint line between his brow, as if his sleep wasn't as calm as he would like. Something in Kaname made him want to rub that line, to soothe the man back into peaceful sleep, an instinct he couldn't have explained to save his own life. He didn't think as his free hand drifted up, gently rubbing that pale forehead, only that the man seemed to sigh as he relaxed back into what he hoped was pleasant dreams.

"I found an art college. It's a private school, and it's very close to here. Only one more week, and I'll move into the dorms, and be able to come and visit whenever I have a chance. One more week..." He drifted off, eyes slowly traveling over the form of the man. He looked strange with short hair, but that was hospital policy with long-term patients who couldn't take care of themselves. Unfortunately, the albino most certainly fell into this category. Even after so many years, a buzz cut just plain didn't suit him. Most of the muscle he'd come in with have withered away, leaving him a shadow of his former self, but to Kaname, there was still an aura around him, a sense of awe and respect. Much like the uneasy aura around himself, Kaname would never be able to explain how he felt about this man.

He sighed, shaking his head as he turned away from the man. He knew that the chances of him waking up anytime soon were still slim, and according to the doctors, the chances of him not having some sort of brain damage, be it anything from jamais vu to short/long term memory loss, were slim to the point of being nonexistent. Still, his heart ached when he was away from the hospital, and he wished for nothing more than for this man to wake up, and be able to tell him who, or what he is.

A sudden commotion in the hall. Kaname turned to see a young woman fighting her doctors as she was being pull into the hall from the surgery wing. She was weak, as if still waking up from her anesthesia, and he was saddened to see that she was missing an arm. That salt-soaked maroon hair was so familiar though, and those slate-blue eyes, though clouded in pain, were the same pair from his dreams.

"I, know you."

The young woman blinked as she looked up at the young man, fighting the drugs that were still trying to do their jobs and keep her asleep. Curiosity was shining in the young man's eyes as he approached, slowly and carefully, as if before a wild animal. And she might as well have been one, considering how patchy his memories were of that missing year. But he was familiar to her, with steel-colored eyes and onyx dark hair. It was the aura around him that was the most familiar, a sensation that made her tilt her head as he came to her bedside.

He sat down next to her as the doctors moved off, all of them familiar with Kaname after so many years of him visiting 'Taro-san.' His nose wrinkled the slightest bit at the scent of blood, but it didn't bother him very much anymore. There was no malice in it, no hate in the creation of the wound or the removal of the limb. The last time he'd been near a car accident, he'd almost passed out then, but he found that the more he visited the hospital, the less the scent affected him. (He didn't know that it was the emotions in the blood the hurt him as much as the blood. It was why he had to avoid his mother a few days out of the month. She truly hated him now.)

His eyes were bright though as he looked the young woman in the eye. "I've seen you, I know you somehow."

"And I feel that I should know you as well," she admitted, trying to sit up. The lingering drugs in her system, and her missing arm, made this difficult, so Kaname helped her, careful not to mess with the bandages around her right shoulder. "You, remind me of a young lo-man, I knew a few years ago. But he went missing not long after we met. How about you? How do you think you know me?"

He shook his head, hair falling over part of his eyes, framing the very faint scar over his forehead. His bangs needed a trim. "I, dream of you. Of a dog with wings, and of you being held by something in a cave. Something with far too many eyes."

Risai paled at the description of Hi'en, only to turn the color of the white bedsheets at the second dream. "T-Taiho?" she whispered, hand reaching up to his shoulder. Her eyebrows furrowed, and snake-swift, her hand moved instead to cup over the boy's forehead. Just as quickly, the young man pulled away from her, shaking his head to rid himself of the sensation of being smothered. "Taiho! It truly is you!" she exclaimed joyfully, pulling him back down into a hug.

Kaname froze, not used to physical contact anymore. "It's me?" he asked, voice soft.

The woman smiled at him as she pulled back a little, hand brushing hair away from his eyes, careful not to touch his forehead now. "Taiho. Taiki, it's me. It's Risai," she offered softly, ducking her head a touch in order to look him in the eyes. Only for those slate eyes to darken. "Do you not remember my name?" she asked.

"I don't even remember what Taiki means to me!" he exclaimed, unconsciously leaning into her touch. Just because he was no longer used to it doesn't mean he didn't crave it. He shook his head as he looked up at her, steel meeting slate. "Can you tell me who I am? I've been waiting for so long, for him to awaken, for my dreams to finally tell me. Can you tell me, why do people keep dying around me? Who, what am I?" he begged, eyes blinking rapidly as he tried to hold back tears.

She pulled him into a hug again, holding back her own tears. As a general, she was highly unlikely to ever have children of her own, ignoring the fact that she didn't have a husband anyway. Taiki however, had always made her instincts as a woman come forward. All she wanted was to wrap him up in cotton and hide him from the horrors of the world. Her eyes roamed the room as she thought of something. 'People dying around him? Have his shirei been doing that?' she wondered. The pair of youma were hidden from her sight though, so she sighed and pulled Taiki up onto the bed so he was sitting next to her, hand resting on his shoulder. "Taiki, you are a very important young man. You are the hope of our country, and so much went wrong when you and the Tai-ou went missing." She shook her head, rusty red hair falling over her face. "I only hope that you can eventually remember how to get us home. I was heading to another country to ask for help before I was swept in to this world with you."

The young man nibbled on the inner part of his lip as he thought about the information he'd just been given. "Taiki..." He looked back up. It sounded so strange, but it made more sense than just a hallucination, or his dreams just being dreams. "If, if I bring something with me next time, can you help me fill in the blanks in my memories?" he asked quietly, as if he wasn't sure if she was telling the truth, as if he feared she would just start laughing at him for falling for such a good, cruel joke.

Risai however, just smiled at the young Kirin with a nod. "Whatever you ask Taiho, I will forever be your servant," she declared quietly, bowing as best as she could with the bandages restricting her movements.

~~~...~~~...~~~...~~~

The little boy was laughing. Life was good. Life was fun. He was to start kindergarten this year. He was looking forward to making new friends.

"Sekioo-kun! Let's go!"

The boy laughed as he raced after his friend, only to stop as his mother called after him. "Takaramaru-kun! Stay with 'kaasan, you're still sick from yesterday," she called, urging the boy back to her side. It was true, he was still feeling a little puny from yesterday, but the scent of blood was almost gone, and with it, his weakness.

Takara didn't know why blood made him feel weak. It just did. He knew to avoid it, but his friend had fallen on the playground, and skinned his knee.

He never noticed the eyes following him from the rooftops. Bright blue eyes that gleamed at the sight of the 5 year old.

* * *

Takaramaru = Perfect Treasure.

Sekioo = Deep Saltwater

Takara can also be pronounced as Hou.


	4. Hooves of Glass, the Hawk Arises 4

_Italics_ will indicate sirei or Kirin in their beast form.

* * *

Hooves of Glass, The Hawk Arises

"Oh, I think I can tell you about this one," Risai offered, carefully reading kanji that was shaky at times, from both sleep and nerves. It was a few days later from when the young woman had awoken to find herself missing her arm and reunited with her Taiho. And every day, that sweet young man got brighter and happier as they talked to one another and her shoulder healed, the last of the scent of blood fading away. Kaname had not told her everything about his life, but the little she had managed to wheedle out of the young Ki had her worried and angry. Worried because she knew that as a holy beast, he was not supposed to eat any sort of flesh, including eggs or milk._ (soy milk would have been fine, but Kaname's mother refused to buy it, finding his sudden changes in food preferences abnormal.)_ And angry at his mother, for making him have to hide what he was, what he was seeing every night in his dreams, for slowly poisoning him with the meats and fried foods that were tainting his aura.

_'No matter right now,'_ she thought, telling the young man about his first meeting with Hi'en._ 'I grow stronger daily, and soon I will find my own way to bring him home,'_ she vowed. Already she had been testing her rate of healing, much faster than the doctors would have liked her too. As a rule, soldiers tended to be bad patients, wanting to leave before they were ready.

"And this one?" Kaname asked, pointing at another entry as he broke through her musing.

But she could only frown at this entry. It was the one dream that he was yet to fully see in any way. It was the dream that wasn't a dream so much as a collection of emotions. Something about it made her frown as she pored over the shaky kanji. If it was only the pain mentioned, she might think it was when he tamed the Toutetsu. But something made her very suspicious of this one_. 'I wonder, is this the last memory he has of Tai...?'_ she thought. _'Maybe, this has to do with why he fell back through.' _"Sorry Taiho, but I don't know this one."

The young man looked disappointed, but nodded his acceptance before turning to another page. This was the first day he had remembered to bring the journal with him, so he was going to try and get as much information out of Risai as he could. "How about this? The man named Kenrou with the large, red winged creature?"

"Hmm, well Kenrou is the God of the Yellow Sea, and a protector of those who go on pilgrimages." A flash of a dirty thought flicked across her mind. If she ever found out that he was the reason she fell into Wa, there would be words. Oh, so many words. "The beast you saw with him, was a Tenken named Rokuta, and I believe he's been with Kenrou for a very long time."

"And this one?" This was an interesting dream, of the young man being surrounded by seven other people, all blondes, if in different shades, from pale to bright gold to bronze and many shades in between. Of arguing like siblings, of Perfume acting very defensive of her country, insisting that nothing was wrong. Risai recognized Perfume, the name of the country of Hou. Curious, she counted the years off on her fingers, trying to figure out how long Taiki had been back in Wa when compared to how long the other Border Country had fallen. She blinked. If she was correct, then he was talking to Hourin a year before her country had fallen and the people had risen up against her king. That had been almost six years ago.

She pushed the thought to the back of her mind; he would learn eventually, but better to learn about that back in the Twelve Kingdoms. "Well, I didn't know that you had met so many of the other Kirin," she offered, reaching up to ruffle his hair. "I remember you mentioning En-taiho and Kei-taiho, but this is describing most of the other Kirin of the kingdoms." She pointed at the descriptions he had put in the margins, fingers trailing over the tightly-packed symbols. "I'm pretty sure that Kei-taiho and En-taiho are these too," she offered, pointing at 'small, bright-gold hair' and 'tall, stern face, palest silver-gold hair.' "And if I remember correctly, this one," Bronze hair, thick build, "is the Kyou-taiho. I'm sorry to say that I never got to see or hear about any of the others. I only remember him because he is considered strikingly different compared to the other Kirin."

Before the young man could ask anything else, there was a sudden groan from the corner. The bed Risai was using was in the long-term ward, if only because there had just been a large bus accident right before she was brought in and there were no other beds she could have taken. But that was fine to Kaname, if only because it meant that even while talking to Lady Risai, he could stay near the Stranger that was starting to awaken.

And he seemed to truly be waking up. Steel eyes went bright as the man moved, arms flailing weakly as he seemed to struggle into consciousness, and Kaname dived off of his perch on Risai's bed to practically fly to his side, the young general struggling to untangle her legs from her sheets in order to join him. Taiki had informed her that the man was important, but she had never gotten a good look at him. Her eyes widened at how familiar the man was as she got closer though, and even if he was a lot paler and thinner than before, he was a dead ringer for her missing King.

Slowly, those mysterious eyes fluttered open for the first time in years, crimson orbs cloudy with pain and confusion. The pair leaned over him as one, Risai hanging on to the IV stand that Taiki had told her was important, and the young Kirin smiling widely for the first time in years. "Tai-ou, Lord Gyousou, can you hear me?" Risai asked, her maroon hair falling over her shoulder as she leaned in.

The man twisted his head back and forth between the two, Risai only now noticing the death grip Taiki had on the man's hand. This had to be her missing King, Taiki would cling to no one else. The gods had heard her prayers! "I, I can hear you," rumbled quietly from his throat: It was a voice neither of the attentative pair had heard in years. It was the sound of Gyousou.

Taiki's shoulders were shaking, his head ducked down as he held onto Gyousou's hand like a lifeline. His lips were moving, and Risai was curious, until she started to make out what he was babbling fervently. "-to be always faithful, to never leave my post at your side. This is my most solemn vow." She was surprised that he remembered the vow, but with everything else she had seen in that dream journal, she suspected that he had reclaimed the words in his sleep.

Gyousou smiled sleepily, his body already shutting back down to help his mind recover faster. But he was still aware enough to pull his hand gently from Taiki's grasp and rest it on top of his head, thin fingers twining through the soft mane. "now and always, I accept," murmured, eyes slipping shut.

...~~~...~~~...

Youko growled with frusteration as she lunged at her instructor, practice sword flashing in the bright sunlight. The blades crossed, flashed apart, a swift jab at his ribs, only to flow up and towards his head.

The young queen was groaning in pain a few minutes later, her practice blade on the ground, and nursing a hand of bruised knuckles. Kantai laughed as he lowered his own weapon. The practice swords were little more than blunt metal sticks, but it was better for them to use those instead of live steel, especially when the Taiho could come around at any time and be stricken by the smell of blood. "that was a nice try my lady, but still not quite good enough," he offered.

Off to the side, Suzu laughed as she hopped down from her perch, carrying over cups of water for the pair as Youko scolded the man, "_we have broken bread together and fought together. As long as we are outside of the court, it's just Youko,"_ was drifting through the air as the kaikyaku walked up. "You are getting better at fighting without your Hinman," she offered, passing the water to the pair of fighters.

"Though I still do not understand why you wish to learn how to fight without him," Kantai offered.

Youko smiled at the pair, part of her laughing at the grumblings in her ears coming from Joyu about her trying to make him useless. "The longer I am on the throne, the less Youma will appear, but I have seen the kinds that eat other Youma. Also," and here she grinned, flicking her sweat-soaked pony tail out of her face. "it's just something to learn."

"Never stop learning!" The trio glanced in the direction of the new voice, another young woman coming up to join them. Shoukei was smiling at the trio, and Youko and Suzu traded glances, the pair trying to hide their grins. They were pretty sure that Shoukei had a crush on the General of the Royal Army, and were trying to help set them up at times so they could talk to one another. But as Shoukei got closer, they could see that she was shadowed by the tall pale form of Keiki. Youko truly couldn't help the sigh that escaped from her frame, but she passed her practice sword to Kantai, offering him a quick bow in thanks before jogging up to her Kirin. If he was out in the courtyard while there was a chance of blood being spilt (accidentally of course) then it must be something important that he needed.

"What do you need Keiki-san?" she asked, heading for her rooms in order to get a little cleaned up.

"We have a visitor. An envoy from Tai." The pale Kirin was stoic as his queen looked back at him in surprise, which was understandable considering that the last Tai ship had been completely destroyed not a week ago. "He says it is urgent that you should meet with him."

Youko nodded after a second. "Alright, please ask someone to bring him some tea, it will give me a chance to get cleaned up," she ordered. Her brow furrowed after a second as a thought came to her. "I don't remember seeing anyone from Tai on the agenda for today. Where did this man come from?"

You could never tell by looking at his mouth, but Keiki's eyes were dancing with suppressed laughter at this. "He wasn't on the agenda. He managed to bully his way in on the back of a kiyuu as wounded and stubborn as him. Both kiyuu and rider had been taken care of," he assured, correctly interpreting the look of horror on the young queen's face. "The tenba is resting comfortably in the stables at the moment, and the palace physician has already seen to the man." And the blood hopefully, seeing as while Keiki looked much older than Youko, they were actually closer in age than anyone would have guessed, and as such, the holy beast was still much more sensitive to the smell of blood compared to the older Kirin in some of the other kingdoms.

"Do you have any idea why he came here?"

The Kirin's eyes were haunted now as he stopped outside of Youko's bed chambers. "He claims that the Hakuchi of Tai never cried in its' second voice. He claims that Taiki and the Tai-ou still live."


End file.
